I don't know how many of you did 4H with your dogs when you were younger - I started with our collie when I was seven or eight and have been doing it ever since, it's really what got me into dogs in the first place. I'm now aged out of it but I still get to help teach beginner obedience and agility foundations once a week.

Every year the club heads up to the state fair to compete, and there's one competition called "drill team" - basically, a themed routine set to music that incorporates all of the basic obedience exercises. It's a lot of fun; unfortunately I wasn't able to go this year because my classes started the same day, but I helped with planning and practice over the summer. These kids worked so hard, meeting two or sometimes three times a week for several hours, and I think they did a great job. I'm so proud of them. To my knowledge, we're the only 4H club in NY that uses clicker training and almost all positive reinforcement. They did SO AWESOME in other areas too - our little club finished with six championships!

Anyway, they did such a good job that I wanted to share - the theme we chose this year was Grease. They ended up getting 2nd out of 5 or 6 teams. The only parts that were a little shakier here than in practice were the circle down stay and the stand for exam, but other than that everything came together really well. Keep in mind drill team is at the end of a very long, stressful day

You might recognize (a naked, out of shape) Cricket - my younger sister had to bring her because Journey was in heat. She worked all right for her considering, but she's a very different dog to work with than Journey and my sister's not really used to that. The other LHW is Roxy, Journey's littermate.

"We become better trainers by refusing to swallow uncritically what is tossed to us as truth,
by developing our powers of empathy and observation,
and by searching for better ways to teach and educate the dogs we love."